14 DAY TRIAL // Google and Microsoft are currently competing in several parts of the technology industry, and it seems like the software giant is ready to push this rivalry into another area by developing its very own VR kit.
Called just like that, VR Kit, the new “device” that Microsoft is secretly working on is supposed to be a competitor to Google Cardboard and offer you a way to build your own VR headset using a piece of paper.
In Microsoft's case, the new project was discovered on a Russian website that promotes a hackathon organized by the software company and that calls for developers to build their own apps for the VR Kit. Games, education and corporate apps are all allowed, and Microsoft says that winners will get their own VR Kit to continue developing their apps.
How the VR Kit works
As said, the VR Kit is nothing more than a piece of paper that would in the end serve as your own VR headset.
The photo that Microsoft used in the contest suggests that the company is going for an approach similar to Google's and requires Lumia owners to insert their phones in their handmade VR Kit. By holding the “device” to their face, users should be able to experience their own VR world based on apps that are developed at this hackathon.
In Google's case, the company is also offering detailed instructions on how to fold a cardboard to create a VR box in just a few minutes. It works with any Android device, and there are already several apps that can help explore your VR world.
What's more interesting is that there are several Cardboard kits that are up for purchase for just a few bucks, so if you don't feel like building your own, the Internet's always coming to the rescue.
Microsoft's contest debuts on October 17, so we should hear about its own VR Kit in just a few weeks.
